Constructed between 1862 and 1871[2] and consecrated in 1876, it was the second of the churches to be completed at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The church was built on top of the rock above the Lourdes grotto and next to the Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary.

Designed by architect Hippolyte Durand, the Neo-Gothic church seems to emerge directly from the rock of Massabielle.

Above the entrance is a mosaic depicting Pope Pius IX, who defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854.

The walls are lined with ex voto plaques, and banners from official National Pilgrimages of the past.